I don’t want to wash up chicken packets and jars of mayonnaise!!

[ChristmasBaby2026]

My council like many have recently changed our recycling. We now have:

• a bin for paper and card
• a bin for “mixed recycling”
• the food bin
• the black bin
• the garden bin (which I have to pay extra for 😡)

The only substantial change other than the number of bins to put things in is they will now collect glass whereas we previously had to go to the bottle bank.

But it now means they are now only collecting our black bin once every THREE weeks (and currently not for 4 because the new system has stupidly started on a recycling week).

How are families supposed to only have rubbish collected once every three weeks? There is simply no way.

I do recycle but I have always drawn the line at washing up gross things like packets of mince and jars of mayonnaise. But apparently the council have decided people have nothing better to do. I wouldn’t resent it so much if I thought it was actually making a difference but my landfill mayonnaise jar is not the main problem here!

And you crack on, contributing to the contamination and demise of the planet.
How f-ing hard is it to rinse off a jar or plastic pack at the end of your normal washing?

@WillieBanjo obviously saw the same programme about working in a recycling centre, that I saw. If you don't clean your recycling that has had food in it the workers have to deal with rats and the most horrendous stench.
So all you who don't wash your jars and meat trays just imagine how you would feel if you worked there!

I do the trays but I’ve just checked and my council don’t do the flexible mince ‘pouches’ yet.

No wonder rats are rife everywhere, people have such minging habits.

It's awful but people do not care. I'm really astounded at the level of ignorance and oblivious living they are choosing to lead. Just because they think it isn't their problem!

I hate the pouches - whoever thought it was a good idea to make it look as unappetising as possible and difficult to get out? And then it can’t even be bloody recycled!

When I lived in Haringey which was typically known as the worst run borough in London they had recycling nailed down. Big wheelie bin and chuck everything in there apart from food waste which was a little brown bin. That's it, worked flawlessly. North Yorkshire is rubbish, pun intended, until recently had blue plastic bags for cardboard so small you had to cut up the cardboard and an open top black box which of course when windy you got the sound of coke cans rolling up and down the road until you finally had enough and went picked it up. Marginally better now they've replaced the black box with a wheelie but cardboard is still a pain so I take it to the tip where you now have to be registered. And no food waste collection either.

Get your point about meat packet but everything else just gets a quick rinse, that's it.

I think advice can vary by facility. When my council introduced the food recycling and upgraded the other recycling bins about 15
years ago, they had a promotional stand in town and the guy manning it said not to waste
a single drop of water as it would make
no difference at the recycling centre. Fast forward 12 years and the provider changed and the advice is now to rinse.

Bin collection once in a three weeks is long. Where I am / European capital city/, its twice a week, one bin for the whole house of 9 flats. All recycling goes in big recycling bins (paper, plastic, glass, metal) that are located on the streets for eveyone to use. Noone has a private recycling bin. There are also communal composts but not very many.

Just stick jars, mince trays etc in the dishwasher. Putting them in the recycling bin unrinsed would be pretty grim, esp in this weather.

Because it's easier. I'm not going outside to my driveway every time I need to chuck something, and I'm not filling my kitchen up with yet another recycling bag.

I really don't think I will make any difference to the demise of the planet by not washing a mayonnaise jar.

From our council refuse collection website:

• foil trays and lids (only if clean)
• kitchen foil (only if clean)

You need to rinse out food containers before putting them in your brown bin and remove any film lids.

IMO that is not a big ask.

It's not exactly difficult, shows all that is wrong with people today when you can't even get rinse something you have used. It is no different to washing the plates and bowls that you eat out of. We have do not have a dishwasher either BTW. Dirty packaging and recycling encourages pests like wasps and rodents and if the stuff isn't clean they can't recycle it. Stop being so ridiculous and take responsibility for yourself and your waste. I actually despair at attitudes like this, it explains why there is dog poo left on streets, rubbish lying all around countryside and towns, people thinking or is someone else's job or problem.

People in flats cant recycle? I am amazed.

We currently only have two bins, green for general waste and brown for mixed recycling which is easy as you can put cardboard, paper, plastic and glass in there. They go out on alternate weeks. I live in a tiny terraced house with a tiny back yard and housing two bins is difficult enas there is very little space. I am dreading being made to have more bins, there simply is nowhere to store them. Loads of people leave them out on the pavement (no front gardens, the houses open straight onto the street) and asisde from looking awful they are an obstacle to parents with buggies, disabled people and people with poor sight. Last week I counted (I am sad like that!) 60 bins left out and many of them have been out for years. What it is going to be like when we get even more bins I dread to think. As for mayo jars, i just fill it up with warm soapy water and give it a good shake, works like a dream

It's fairer for only people with gardens to pay for garden waste disposal, rather than expect those in flats with zero garden access to pay for it.

Once you get used to the change, it's not so bad, except for around Christmas, as they always seem to collect paper and cardboard before anybody's opened their presents and then they don't collect anything at all until January.

Bloody hell, some people are really fucking lazy.

Saw a dead rat lying in the gutter when I went out, shudder...

Thank you! Good to know, I was told that by someone who'd had people come into work and teach them how to recycle properly so took it as gospel. Thanks for the tip 😊

So ridiculous that system isn't it? I wonder if in streets with no front gardens it would be better to have big communal bins but then I suppose depends how long the street is and how many bins you'd need, and you'd lose the parking.

Well, my black bin is collected every two weeks and I often don't put it out because it only has one carrier bag in it. Admittedly I live alone, but even multiplying that by four it wouldn't be full every three weeks.

As far washing things - use all your food, then just rinse stuff. Or stick it in the dishwasher.

I read it's only 3D food that matters anyway, which you should have scraped into your food waste bin.

I set aside soft plastics as well and take them to the supermarket. It's surprising how it mounts up even with squishing it down. I just put the tied up bags in my car when they're full and drop them off when I'm shopping.

And?

God this thread is depressing.

How about people who can't sort their waste properly have to take their own waste to the dump?

We fill jars and tins with the left over washing up water, leave for a couple of minutes then rinse.